The Only Christian
by Jimmy Humphrey
I write this brief essay with a saddened and broken heart. Recently, I was talking to a friend that I’ve known since my first year of college. We’ve known each other for almost ten years. In the course of our discussion, my friend, who I shall call Jane Doe, said to me, “Jimmy, you are my ONLY Christian friend.” When I heard these words, I was utterly astonished. So many thoughts ran through my mind. My breath was literally taken away.
I could not fathom how such a thing was possible. First, Jane has lived in North Carolina almost her entire life. She’s grown up in the heart of the Bible belt. Churches are almost everywhere. Secondly, Jane is a young and very energetic individual. She is very social, and makes friends easily. She’ll talk to just about anyone, anywhere, about anything. Thirdly, while Jane actively confesses that she is not at all religious, and doesn’t consider herself a Christian, Jane had some religious upbringing as a child. Because of all these factors, the odds are Jane should have at least several Christian friends.
But in spite of all the odds, as I learned in our conversation, Jane only has one Christian friend, and that Christian friend is me. But that’s not that all Jane said. Jane went on to say that it’s not that she doesn’t know other Christians. She in fact does. But she said that of all the Christians she knows, I’m the only one that isn’t “fickle” or “a hypocrite.” She said she can’t be friends with people who are like that. Again, I was floored.
Though Jane is unsaved, God spoke to me through Jane. Through her words I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Jimmy, you are the only contact she has with Jesus Christ.” This challenges me deeply. My friend Jane is lost. She is not saved. She does not know God. If she died right now, she would go to hell. Though God could send somebody else her way, as things stand at the present time, I am the only witness in her life that can share with her the love of Jesus Christ. I am the only person who has the ability to speak into her life and tell her that Jesus Christ died for her sins, came back to life, ascended into heaven, and will come yet again. If our friendship should ever end, or should we ever grow apart, Jane would live in a world without the light of the gospel, and would live in a world that is growing darker and darker by the hour.
When I shared this story with one brother, he said to me, “That keeps it real.” Very real indeed! And according to the testimony of Jane, my ability to be real is the thing that allows me to be her friend, and as a result, to speak into her life. And as the only Christian in Jane’s life right now, I feel as if the Lord has placed on my heart a greater desire to become more and more like Christ. I feel all the more challenged by the Lord to become the man of God that God has called me to be.
For you see, Jane doesn’t like people who she deems to be fickle or hypocrites. And I believe Jane is like most people in that regard. Most people don’t have time for others whom they deem to be such either. What does it mean to be fickle? According to the dictionary, to be fickle is to be somebody who is not constant. Fickle people are erratic and unstable. Likewise, what does it mean to be a hypocrite? A hypocrite is ultimately somebody who is an actor. They pretend to be something they actually aren’t. They are an illusion.
Jane knows other Christians, but those “Christians” can’t speak into her life, because she recognizes that those Christians are ultimately not real. She runs into them at work, at school, and in other places. After all, Christians are said to represent over one-hundred million people in the United States. But of those one-hundred million Christians, I am the only Christian she knows that can speak into her life. To her, the rest are fickle, and hypocrites.
Jane is not the only person like this in America today. There are plenty of people in our nation who have, at best, only one Christian friend. Some have said that America is now a post-Christian nation. Christianity is on the decline in our nation. Fewer and fewer people know Jesus Christ. Indeed, you might find yourself like me, and be the only Christian somebody has in their life. If so, I want you to realize as I did today, YOU may be the only contact somebody has with Jesus Christ. Without you being a part of their life, they might have no knowledge of the gospel whatsoever.
Oh, what an awesome calling you and I have on our lives! Let us strive all the more to live the realities of the gospel message we profess. Let us strive to be the people of God that God has called us to be. Let us stand up and be men and women of faith and integrity. May we be real and true to our profession of faith. Let us so represent Christ in all of our conduct, that we do nothing to bring shame upon the awesome name by which we have been saved. May we be consistent in our walk, minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day. Let us demonstrate that while we may live in a world where hypocrites abound, that Jesus Christ is no hypocrite. And the only way we can show the world that Jesus Christ is no hypocrite, is to be without hypocrisy ourselves. Remember, you may be the only contact somebody has with Jesus Christ.